Town councillors have further explained their recent decision to recommend refusal of a project to turn Tenby's historic St. Catherine's Island into a visitor attraction, stating that they fear the plans have taken a different direction to what was initially proposed.

The application from Mr. Peter Prosser, of the Tenby Island Project, was given the thumbs down by members of the council, who felt the plans were not detailed enough to fully assess the impact of the development on Castle Beach and the surrounding area, and that the proposals lacked clarity about the eventual end use for the island and fort.

Following their decision to recommend refusal to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, the developers behind the project hit back last week, labelling councillors "small-minded" in trying to stop what they considered to potentially be the "most significant tourist project that has happened for decades" in the resort.

Responding to a statement that appeared in the press and on social networking sites criticising their decision, Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter said that they should not bow to "bully-boy tactics and insults".

"I'm not a Facebook fan, but I'd like to remind Mr. Prosser that we discuss planning matters for the town very carefully, and take everything into account, including concerns that come before us from neighbouring properties," she stressed at Tuesday night's meeting of the council.

"We should not bow to bully-boy tactics and insults!

"The all-singing and dancing proposals that have come before us from the island developers in this latest application are very different to the plans we previously viewed, which leant towards more educational features for the island.

"Some people may think that the town council is being small-minded, well there's an election next year, maybe they'd be willing to stand!" she remarked.

Clr. Mrs Christine Brown felt that everyone was entitled to their own opinion, and it was easy to interpret the town council's comments on the plans differently, but she simply wasn't convinced by certain aspects of the planning application.

"All these things that they've put in the plans, they're not going to get," she said. "We saw the first set of plans previously, and now the second set are extremely different.

"I just don't trust what the developers are saying to us, and a lot of people in the town feel the same way.

"I trust the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority planners to look into it all properly, but if they make a mistake, it's a mistake for Tenby, and one we don't intend to make ourselves, that's why we're scrutinising everything properly," added Clr. Mrs. Brown.

Clr. Lawrence Blackhall reiterated that there were clearly ambiguities with the proposals, as the application had added a request for C1 (hotels, boarding and guest house) and C3 (dwelling) uses without specifying the nature of the overnight accommodation that would be provided.

"Nobody has ever said we're against seeing development on the site, we're just seeking clarity on its uses, as once planning permission is granted, it's there for life," he commented.

"People don't seem to realise that whatever is approved could be there for five, 10, 20 or 30 years, no matter what happens, meaning that the building could be potentially used for anything, regardless of what the current tenant wants it for.

"We're very positive about something being there, but the planning requirements need to be much clearer. We're not being small-minded, we're just protecting the town for the future.

"I don't want to get into trading insults, as once you do that, you lose the argument in my view, but we're happy to meet on site with the developers or discuss it here with everybody around the table," added Clr. Blackhall.

Deputy Mayor, Clr. Paul Rapi, referred to a posting he had read online from June of 2012, in which Mr. Prosser stated that he wanted to turn the island into a historical visitor attraction, and that putting a bridge across to the site was intrinsic to the project.

"This is where it gets confusing in my eyes, as in an interview a year later, Mr. Prosser claimed that permission for a bridge to be erected had already been granted some years previously," he said.

"He also said that the type of exhibitions they wanted on the island were of an historical nature, and that they wanted educational facilities for underwater cameras etc - and yet now the most recent plans seem to be moving in a different direction, with applications for late licences!

"For the sake of the town, we will not make a decision that we feel is detrimental to Tenby," he continued.

"I'm surprised we've been attacked in this way by the developers, as I don't think we deserve it. We don't want the name calling, we're here for the people of the town," added Clr. Rapi.

The scheme, which was initially turned down by members of the National Park Authority's development management committee in the summer of 2013, is due to be discussed again by the committee over the next few weeks.